Week 1 of otr trainer observation as a new driver in the books, we banked a little over 3k miles in 6 days.
My trainer is a strong repub nra Trump kind of guy, the company is very strict on no politics, race ect… just teach trucking but he’s kind of bending the rules slightly because “30+ years and 2.5 mil miles safe driving”
I’ve done all the driving each day and by day 2 I’ve done most of the paper work and eld logging.
I have a pretty strong sense of what I’m doing, how to back, and such.
Driving is great enough that my trainer feels he can fall asleep during our drives.
My biggest issue is, I’ve heard more about his past companies , how much he used to get laid, and how hes soo good.
When I ask questions, they’re more scenario questions like in the event what I feel I should do, is that OK or not.
Example, 4 lane interstate, I’m in lane 3 lane 4 ends in 5 miles, should I merge to lane 4 or stay in 3 since I know 4 ends down the road.
They’re always met with snarky comments as if I should already know the answer. Then he adds to it “UGH ALL YOU GYCDL guys are the same”
Another red flag is he’s an old old school guy so he runs his routes hard with no breaks. Our 30m to reset the 11 is done at the consignee then its back to driving.
If I run out of food or drink because we run so hard, it’s bascially get fucked we’re still running type of deal and he doesn’t allow us to carry enough material to last.
No music is allowed and because he keeps frustrating me with his snarky comments, we sit in silence for 11-14 hours.
I have 2 more weeks 14-18 days left till I take my second evaluation to see if I’m worth ordering a new truck for per company rules.
My trainer agrees, I’m way ahead of the curve especially since I’m running my entire 11and or 14hr clock down, and have not been late once to a drop / relay.
I’m kind of losing my mind with how frustrated I’m getting because we both know I’m basically going through the motions for the company mandated 3 week otr observation.
I haven’t talked to my trainer about my issues because he’s a super paranoid gun nut and i feel like one wrong conversation could mean death.
An example is making a turn at night no one around me, I may leave my tandems slightly off the curb due to low visibility and he gets mad, shakes his head yelling about “OH A FUCKIN 4 WHEEL IS GONNA SHOOT THAT GAP BECAUSE YOU WONT CLOSE THE DOOR”
Always telling me, I’m gonna see so many “4 wheelers” try to cut me off using the shoulder
Or
During rush hour, I feel like at 78k lbs I can’t make my turn and he gets mad shakes his head rolls his eyes at me, tells me “GO GO GOOO, UGH YOU COULD HAVE MADE IT” then ignores me for the next 5-10 minutes.
The company is willing to work with me and find me a new trainer if need be but that may reset my 1st week and I’ll have to do 3 new weeks again.
Too add insult, he made poor planning decisions which made us drop our last load with 50 minutes left on our 14hr.
He had us haul ass to our drop yard and we made it with ONE MINUTE left to spare and the entire time he was blaming me when all I did was just listen to his instructions.
So we have been up 14+ hours and I had another 2 hour drive home while he had a 5 minute drive.
He forces me to wipe down and vacuume the truck at 12/1am in pitch black darkness for an hour before I could leave.
In school my trainers who had been with the company 10+ were amazing, now that I’m with this otr guy who’s been here a year, he’s making me feel like just a number to burn out.
Even worse, he says “I’m not doing it for the money, I’m doing it to teach you truck driving” yet the company tells us, until we get our own truck, the miles we drive go to the otr trainer. So all 3100 I did this week went to him and that’s why he ran me so fucking hard.
I’m at my wits end up keeping my mouth shut, but at the same time, 2 weeks of being miserable is potentially do able although it could change my entire attitude about the industry and career.
New trainer????
